Classifying Cases in Federal Studies : an Illustration of why Political Scientists should do more Cluster Analysis

Typologies are widely used in research on federalism, e.g. to distinguish dual from cooperative or coming-together from holding-together federations. More general, ideal types, archetypes and categories are frequently used in political science research to define concepts and classify cases. As recently as in 2014, Filho et al. pointed out that Cluster Analysis is still hardly used when it comes to developing typologies in political science. Rather, political scientists rely on more intuitive methods or factor analysis. Our paper argues that Cluster Analysis is of great usefulness because it a) focuses on the relationship between cases and not variables and b) draws on empirical data when identifying the clusters. This paper proposes to apply this fruitful approach to the field of federalism to exemplify its major heuristic potential. Furthermore, we emphasize that testing the secondary validity is a crucial step. Our paper provides two original examples from comparative federal politics and public management that illustrate the strength of Cluster Analysis both in testing and generating hypotheses through the establishment of typologies. For both examples, the validity of the Cluster Analysis is tested by checking for correlations between the clusters and the distribution of power. Hence, the typologies established through Cluster Analysis not only define our respective dependent variables related to aspects of intergovernmental coordination within federations and the normative density of evaluation clauses in the Swiss federation, but also offer strong insights in issues of regional autonomy

Classifying cases in federal studies: an illustration of why political scientists should do more cluster analysis

"Typologies are widely used in research on federalism, e.g. to distinguish dual from cooperative or coming-together from holding-together federations. More general, ideal types, archetypes and categories are frequently used in political science research to define concepts and classify cases. As recently as in 2014, Filho et al. pointed out that Cluster Analysis is still hardly used when it comes to developing typologies in political science. Rather, political scientists rely on more intuitive methods or factor analysis. Our paper argues that Cluster Analysis is of great usefulness because it a) focuses on the relationship between cases and not variables and b) draws on empirical data when identifying the clusters. This paper proposes to apply this fruitful approach to the field of federalism to exemplify its major heuristic potential. Furthermore, we emphasize that testing the secondary validity is a crucial step. Our paper provides two original examples from comparative federal politics and public management that illustrate the strength of Cluster Analysis both in testing and generating hypotheses through the establishment of typologies. For both examples, the validity of the Cluster Analysis is tested by checking for correlations between the clusters and the distribution of power. Hence, the typologies established through Cluster Analysis not only define our respective dependent variables related to aspects of intergovernmental coordination within federations and the normative density of evaluation clauses in the Swiss federation, but also offer strong insights in issues of regional autonomy." (author's abstract

Les clauses d’évaluation dans le droit des cantons suisses : leur diffusion, leur contenu et la justification à l’origine de leur adoption

Les clauses d’évaluation permettent d’inscrire dans des lois l’obligation d’en évaluer les effets. Si un inventaire de ces clauses a été réalisé au niveau fédéral par l’Office fédéral de la justice (OFJ), seul un inventaire partiel les concernant existe au niveau cantonal. Aussi, cet article se propose-t-il, d’une part, de combler cette lacune en se basant sur les résultats d’un nouvel inventaire réalisé pour l’ensemble des cantons suisses dans le cadre d’un projet financé par le Fonds national suisse pour la recherche scientifique. D’autre part, il vise à mettre en évidence la variété de la diffusion de ces clauses dans le droit des cantons suisses, les domaines de politiques publiques comportant des clauses d’évaluation et leur densité normative. Des études de cas réalisées dans les cantons de Berne, Genève et Zurich permettent par ailleurs de déterminer les phases du processus législatif au cours desquelles les clauses sont introduites et les raisons invoquées à cet effet. Enfin, les analyses existantes pour la Confédération ont été actualisées et complétées, de sorte à permettre une comparaison de ces données avec celles des cantons

Lights and Siren Transport and the Need for Hospital Intervention in Nontrauma Patients: A Prospective Study

The use of lights and siren transport (LST) has been a matter of debate because of the short time savings and well-established increased risks for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and bystanders. Time-critical hospital intervention (TCHI) denotes urgently needed procedures that cannot be performed properly in an out-of-hospital setting. Since 2013, rapid transportation from the field, fast-track, is currently used for patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction, suspicion of acute stroke and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The aim of this study was to determine whether the use of LST was associated with the realization of TCHI for nontrauma cases within 15 minutes of hospital arrival, to quantify overtriage (LST without TCHI) and to identify the predictors of TCHI. This is a monocentric prospective observational study of nontrauma patients transported by ambulance. Based on Ross et al.'s work in 2016 on trauma patients, TCHI procedures were developed by the study team. Descriptive statistics were used to determine whether the use of LST was associated with the realization of TCHI. Multivariable analyses determined the predictors of TCHI and compared clinical outcomes. On the 324 patients included, 67 (20.7%) benefitted from LST, with 40 (59.7%) receiving TCHI (p < 0.001). The overtriage rate was 40.3%. The most common medical TCHI was the fast-track (65.2% of all TCHI). LST was predictive of the need for TCHI (p < 0.001), as was the clinical condition of the patient and also when EMS providers expected TCHI. A majority of the LST benefitted from TCHI with an overtriage rate of 40%. To reduce the rate of overtriage (LST without TCHI), LST should mainly be used for fast-track and when TCHI is expected by the EMS providers

Les clauses d'évaluation sectorielles : outils d'ajustement ou de stratégie politique ? Le cas de l'interdiction de la mendicité à Lausanne

Demander dans une loi que ses effets soient mesurés est considéré comme une bonne pratique synonyme d’expertise. Néanmoins l’étude d’une politique sécuritaire suisse révèle que cette expertise n’est pas l’apanage de l’evidence-based policymaking mais également un moyen de d’alimenter le conflit politique sur la base de données empiriques